Eric Bana

Like his American contemporaries Tom Hanks and Jim Carrey, actor Eric Bana started his career as a comedic performer on television before striking out in films. In his native Australia, Bana starred i...
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New Releases:
Clash of Empires (Image, $18.99)
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The Entitled (Starz/Anchor Bay, $20.99)
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Everything Must Go (Lionsgate, $21.49)
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Fringe: The Complete Third Season (Warner Brothers, $42.99);
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Hanna (Universal, $19.99)
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The Movie: It had faded from my memory while summer’s blockbusters took the stage, but a rewatch on Blu-ray has reminded me that Joe Wright’s Hanna is one of my favorite movies of the year.
The film is such a complete, singular action-flick; this bizarro, CIA conspiracy-infused fairy tale about what happens when a teenage girl breed to be an assassin re-enters the world. Saoirse Ronan, Cate Blanchett and Eric Bana are all great in it, but the real stars of this movie are the Chemical Brothers. Their score is a living, breathing Siamese twin fused to every aspect of this movie and, because of that, I think it gives more to the world of Hanna than Daft Punk did to the world of Tron: Legacy. It’s always there, lurking in the corners like it’s ready to start bouncing off the walls at any minute. Sometimes you can’t even tell what’s part of the score and what’s a sound effect, which combined with Wright’s sharp visuals essentially makes Hanna a feature-length music video. And while that’s normally something I’d probably gripe about, it just works here. Everything about Hanna just works for me.
The Features: There are a number of worthwhile making-of features on here, the most interesting of course being the one on how the Chemical Brothers put their entirely electronic (meaning no live instruments whatsoever) score together. There’s an impressive bit on the training Saorise Ronan went through, as well as the producers and writer talking about how they went about creating a fairy tale out of a CIA story. The most informative bit of the disc, however, is Wright’s feature-length commentary, which reveals a lot about how the film’s meticulously choreographed fight sequences came to be.
Buy It If: You’ve got a good sound system and you want to give it a full body work out. Oh, and if you want to watch a kick-ass action movie with style to spare.
A Horrible Way to Die (Starz/Anchor Bay, $23.99)
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A Horrible Way to Die is probably not the film you’re expecting from that title, and particularly that cover art, but if you prefer horror movies that are more meditative than they are gory, this flick about a serial killer that escapes police custody and tracks down his ex-girlfriend is a must watch. It’s worth seeing alone just for the gut-wrenching performances from Amy Seimetz and AJ Bowen.
The Office: Season 7 (Universal, $37.99)
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Though I obviously haven’t been able to test it out to see what the quality is actually like, there’s an interesting feature on this Blu-ray that will let you stream new episodes of The Office through BD-live once they begin to air.
Catalog Releases
40 Days and 40 Nights (Lionsgate, $9.99)
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Big Momma's House (20th Century Fox, $22.49)
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Big Momma's House 2 (20th Century Fox, $16.99)
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Children of the Corn (Image Entertainment) (Image, $12.99)
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Dressed to Kill (MGM/UA, $15.99)
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Genevieve (VCI, $22.49)
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Hellbound: Hellraiser II (Image, $12.99)
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Hellraiser (Image Entertainment) (Image, $12.99)
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The Hills Have Eyes (1977) (Image, $12.99)
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Scarface (Limited Edition Steelbook) (Universal, $34.89)
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The Movie: Scarface is an incredibly well made, superbly acted portrait of a psychopath whose only goal in life is to be at the top. The disc is a fascinating time capsule of a film that sells the ‘80s out as a crazed, coked-out era of excess and commercial decadence. Even more baffling is that the film’s main character, who also happens to be its most self-destructive, went on to become this bizarre, unlikely icon to hip hop stars. For some reason they’ve made him synonymous with the American Dream, which is certainly understandable because Montana does have an admirable arrogance that allows him to stand defiant against all that surrounds him.
But it’s like those that made him fashionable twenty years after-the-fact only bothered to watch the first third of De Palma’s film. They somehow missed the rest of it, where he breaks all of the golden rules he once had respect for and in turn brings down his entire empire. It’s like idolizing a squirrel for standing bravely in front of a speeding car.
The Features: The bulk of these features have all been ported over from previous DVD releases of the film, but there’s reason enough to pick it up on Blu-ray for the first time. For starters, the audio mix is amazing, fully absorbing you into the poppy, synthy world of the ‘80s. Secondly is the video, which got a lot of love in the HD transfer department (just watch the funny special feature on the TV version of the movie to see the difference in quality). And thirdly is a new, exclusive to this Blu-ray, 40-minute segment that examines how and why Scarface went on to become a phenomenon. I wish it had more of an emphasis on how hip-hop culture has made Tony Montana one of their own, but it’s still an enjoyable look at how the film found its fanbase after a weak theatrical response. Plus, you’ll get to hear De Palma say he’s seen real mountains of coke on tables like it’s no big thing. Oh, Hollywood in the ‘80s...
Buy It If: You’re a die hard Scarface fan, obviously. At $35, it’s a bit steep right out of the gate if you happen to have never seen the film, but it’s definitely worth a rent in the near future.
Scream Trilogy (Lionsgate, $19.99)
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Straw Dogs (MGM/UA, $16.99)
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United 93 (Universal, $26.91)
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The initial previews of Hanna brought memories of a very dissimilar movie with a pretty similar subplot: Kick-Ass.
In that movie Nicolas Cage trained his preteen daughter to be a deadly fighter. In Hanna Eric Bana does the same for Saoirse Ronan. However Kick-Ass was a lively (yet macabre) comic book farce and Hanna looked to be a pitch-black action film without much in the avenue of story or character. Sure they'd drag us along with questions about the girl's origin and compel us with the life-affirming dedication that the CIA Agent (Cate Blanchett) hunting Hanna has to her mission. Perhaps some interesting action but little else would this movie offer.
Thankfully my preconceptions were proved to be all wrong. Hanna was far more than an unusual twist on an action film. Although the movie does have its weaker points Hanna is above all an intriguing and beautifully shot movie. The development of Hanna as a character is sensational. She doesn't spend her screen time taking orders from her father Erik Heller and killing nameless soldiers. A good deal of the film has her learning about the modern world with which she has no actual experience. The strongest scenes in fact were the lighter ones: Hanna in her travels befriends an English family—the first people with whom she has managed to form any relationship.
All of the acting performances are impressive especially the supporting ones. The family members are hilarious but not caricatures—they're believable as a family. Tom Hollander as Isaacs the "unlicensed" assassin is creepy and horrifying but not superhuman. Even more provocative than its performances is the film's direction. You will be hard-pressed to find a more beautifully and precisely shot film. The scenes of action comedy tenderness and tension are all shot to perfectly capture the mood.
The Hanna DVD available today has a fair deal of interesting bonus features. Director Joe Wright gives humble and interesting but sometimes overly pragmatic commentary on the film and on a small featurette called "Anatomy of a Scene." In addition there are two Deleted Scenes and an Alternative Ending all worth watching if only to see Hanna's character further developed.
The movie is a delightful surprise and the DVD offers genuinely interesting bonuses that help the viewer to understand this unique complex film.

Having already topped the international box office charts, Fox’s Rio migrates to North America with a solid and better-than-expected debut of $40 million. With $50.8 million in 35 overseas markets the film is now conquering America with a G-rated comedic adventure that tells the tale of a domesticated macaw who sets off on an adventure to Rio de Janeiro. Rio had a lot going for it this weekend beyond its obvious appeal to families and kids since the film has also garnered solid reviews and a strong following internationally that propelled its gross to even higher than expected levels.
Horror films typically have a built in fan base and Weinstein Co.’s successful Scream franchise has had a following of devotees ever since the groundbreaking first film hit theaters in December of 1996. Combining horror thrills with irreverent humor and an attractive teen cast, that film became a phenomenon opening with just $6.3 million and going on to become the thirteenth highest grossing film released that year with $103 million. The 2nd and 3rd installments released in 1997 and 2000 respectively both opened in the low $30 million range and Scream 4 coming over a decade after the last installment scared up a gross of $19.3.
Check out our exclusive Scream 4-themed comic strip from Francesco Marciuliano. Francesco writes the internationally-syndicated comic strip “Sally Forth” and the webcomic “Medium Large.” He was the head writer for the PBS series “SeeMore’s Playhouse,” for which one of his episodes won two 2007 Daytime Emmys. He currently writes for the Onion News Network.
Universal’s Hop was the first film released in 2011 to top the chart for two consecutive weekends and has truly benefitted from its Easter theme which has endeared it to kids and families to the tune of $82.6 million thus far. With increased family-film competition in the marketplace this weekend the film took third place with $11.2 million, but can expect a nice boost next weekend when Easter Sunday will give Russell Brand as the son of the Easter Bunny irresistible appeal.
Sony’s inspirational true story Soul Surfer held extraordinarily well with a second weekend drop of just 30% and a gross of $7.4 million. The surfing drama has earned nearly $20 million in 10 days of release.
Hanna from Focus Features had a solid opening weekend last week which saw the film jump from third place to second place when the final numbers were tallied on Monday. Holding extremely well while generating solid word-of-mouth, the intense action film features a terrific cast including Cate Blanchett, Eric Bana and Saoirse Ronan in the title role. Hanna took fifth place this weekend with a gross of $7.3 million and a domestic total to date of $23.3 million.
The downtrend at the box office which has plagued the industry since early November has finally been broken with a strong lineup of newcomers and holdovers giving us enough overall strength to beat last year’s comparable weekend when Kick Ass debuted with $19.8 million and How to Train Your Dragon in its 4th weekend took 2nd place with $19.6 million.
Weekend Box-Office Estimates
Top Movies - For Weekend of April 15, 2011
Movie Weekend Gross Total to Date
1 Rio (G) $40.0M $40.0M
2 Scream 4 (R) $19.3M $19.3M
3 Hop (PG) $11.2M $82.6M
4 Soul Surfer (PG) $7.4M $20.0M
5 Hanna (PG-13) $7.3M $23.3M
6 Arthur (PG-13) $6.9M $22.3M
7 Insidious (PG-13) $6.85M $36.0M
8 Source Code (PG-13) $6.3M $37.0M
9 The Conspirator (PG-13) $3.92M $3.9M
10 Your Highness (R) $3.9M $15.9M

The Aussie star admits he wasn't used to the big freeze he experienced when he arrived on set for the action thriller - and he only hoped medics would recognise the symptoms of hypothermia before they took hold on him and the rest of the cast.
He tells WENN, "The cold in Finland was something else, but we were well looked after. The funniest thing was we got a memo about how to diagnose hypothermia in your co-worker, because apparently it's easier to diagnose it in someone else rather than yourself.
"One of the things was erratic behavior. I thought, 'S**t, we're on a movie set, so everyone is gonna be behaving erratically!'"
But, despite the extreme cold which dropped to minus-29, director Joe Wright insists his leading man was a trooper throughout the shoot: "A more precious actor and we would have had a complete f**king nightmare on our hands. There were no large Winnebagos and catering was basically set up in an old wooden hut... but Eric was incredibly game."

Universal’s animated Easter-themed Hop had a much better-than-expected $37.5 million debut last weekend and has become the first film this year to repeat at the top of the chart with a gross of $21.7 million. Russell Brand who also stars in this week’s Arthur, is the voice of E.B., the teenage wannabe rockstar son of the Easter Bunny. Brand is suddenly be the king of the box office as he manages an impressive one-two finish this weekend as Hop nears the $70 million mark.
Speaking of which, Russell Brand stars as Arthur in Warner Bros.’ remake of the Dudley Moore massive comedy hit (the film earned $95.5 million in 1981!) which co-starred Liza Minnelli and spawned the sequel Arthur: On The Rocks in 1988. As the drunken spoiled-brat rich kid Brand is the perfect modern choice to take over the title role. The presence of Helen Mirren elevates the proceedings and the modern spin on this tale combined with a solid marketing campaign gave Arthur $12.6 million more in his considerable piggy bank.
Check out our exclusive Russell Brand-themed comic strip from Francesco Marciuliano. Francesco writes the internationally-syndicated comic strip “Sally Forth” and the webcomic “Medium Large.” He was the head writer for the PBS series “SeeMore’s Playhouse,” for which one of his episodes won two 2007 Daytime Emmys. He currently writes for the Onion News Network.
Both the family audience and the comedy fans are covered this weekend so Hanna from Focus Features filled the action role with a take-no-prisoners action film that features a terrific cast including Cate Blanchett, Eric Bana and Saoirse Ronan in the title role of the 16-year-old assassin. Channeling the spirit of such female-based action films as 1991’s La Femme Nikita and 1994’s The Professional, Hanna effectively drew both men and women to the multi-plex and hit the target with $12.3 million.
In fourth place, Sony’s Soul Surfer tells the true story of teenaged champion surfer Bethany Hamilton’s (AnnaSophia Robb) incredible recovery from a terrifying shark attack that took her left arm. Starring Helen Hunt and Dennis Quaid, the PG-rated film earned $11.1 million this weekend drawing both families and the faith-based audience looking for an uplifting experience at the movie theater.
Film District’s horror thriller Insidious had a small 27% second weekend drop which is much smaller than usual for a horror film and reflects strong critical and audience reaction to the film which has earned $27.1 million to date.
Debuting in sixth place is Universal’s Your Highness which presents brotherly rivalry in the days of knights and maidens and takes it to a new high. Starring Danny McBride and James Franco as unlikely brothers Thadeous and Fabious, the film follows the misadventures of the pair as they embark on a quest to rescue Fabious’s bride Isabel as played by Zooey Deshannel. Boasting plenty of tongue-in-cheek Oscar-cred with both Franco and Portman well represented at this year’s Academy Awards, Your Highness scored a gross of $9.5 million.
Notably opening on 206 screens this weekend in IMAX is the family-friendly documentary adventure Born to be Wild 3-D from Warner Bros. The film wrangled an opening weekend gross of $850,000 and a per-screen average of $4,126.
Also notable this weekend is the second release from Pantelion Films (a division of Lionsgate Films) titled No Eres Tu, Soy Yo which played in 226 theaters in the top 20 Latino markets
This is the seventh consecutive down weekend at the box office with year ago comparisons once again tough as Clash of the Titans in its second weekend and Date Night in its debut both earned over $25 million and How To Train Your Dragon remained strong with a $24.9 million 3rd weekend.
Weekend Box-Office Estimates
Top Movies - For Weekend of April 8, 2011
Movie Weekend Gross Total to Date
1 Hop (PG) $21.7M $68.1M
2 Arthur (PG-13) $12.6M $12.6M
3 Hanna (PG-13) $12.3M $12.3M
4 Soul Surfer (PG) $11.1M $11.1M
5 Insidious (PG-13) $9.7M $27.1M
6 Your Highness (R) $9.5M $9.5M
7 Source Code (PG-13) $9.0M $28.6M
8 Limitless (PG-13) $5.7M $64.4M
9 Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2 (PG) $4.9M $45.5M
10 The Lincoln Lawyer (R) $4.6M $46.5M

Hands down, the best studio film that I've seen this year is Focus Features Hanna, a visceral coming of age story set within the violent world of international assassins. The picture features standout performances from its stars Saoirse Ronan and Eric Bana as well a career-redefining turn from director Joe Wright (Atonement, Pride and Prejudice). If you're going to spend $10 at the multiplex this weekend, I highly recommend this movie (read my review here) and if you'd like to know more about it, check out my exclusive interviews with Ronan and Bana below!
Eric Bana talks about conjuring thrilling fight sequences with Wright and the film's choreographer as well as the reasons why audiences love spy/assassin films

The Troy star, who is a well-known car and bike fanatic, has been watching the show since it started in 2008 - and he wants a regular role.
He tells WENN, "One of my best friends, Kim Coates, plays Tig in Sons of Anarchy so I've been on him since day one to do the show because I'm the hugest fan."
And Bana admits he recruited Hunnam for his new film Blackbird in the hope the actor would return the favour: "It's one of the reasons I was really keen on getting Charlie into the film."
Indie thriller Blackbird also features Sissy Spacek, Olivia Wilde and Kris Kristofferson.

Later this year you will likely flock to your local movie theater to watch a young man become a super soldier at the height of WWII. This month you can see a somewhat less stylized but no less sensational story about a young girl who was born into a similar life of action and international adventure. Her name is Hanna and she can kill you with your own knife while it’s still in your hand.
Joe Wright (Atonement) directs this well-balanced coming of age story set within the cold and unforgiving world of assassins and espionage. The film follows the titular heroine who has lived a reclusive life in the forest with her rogue CIA-agent father on a vengeful mission that takes her all across the map. Trained to survive in the harshest conditions and fight like the spawn of Lara Croft and Rambo she is pursued by deadly adversaries as she inches closer to her primary target a ruthless CIA handler who had mysterious past dealings with her Dad all while discovering what life outside the woods is like.
While star Saoirse Ronan’s visceral turn is a marvel to observe so too is Wright’s. Like his protagonist he ventures into the unknown with this material taking the reigns of a film that couldn’t be any more foreign to him. Coming off of past projects grounded in romance and realism he forges new territory with Hanna delivering a fresh approach to the at-times tired spy thriller. He presents the major plot points of the story patiently delicately hinting at the big picture and always leaving you pining for more. Though the twist is ultimately predictable the fun part is putting the pieces of the puzzle together on your own. You’ll find more brilliance in his method by dissecting the picture piece by piece. His use of sound in both the film’s abstract score (from the sorely missed Chemical Brothers) and its effects which phase in and out at calculated points is in part a cinematic experiment that plays with perception in ways that audiences may not have experienced in a mainstream movie. There are also a few visual motifs in select scenes (most notably a killer fight sequence that ends with Eric Bana exterminating a handful of Agency henchman) that tell a parallel visual tale to supplement the narrative.
Thematically Hanna is even more complex. Screenwriters Seth Lochhead and David Farr explore the limitations of a disconnected mind in their Black List-certified script giving their curious character the opportunity to learn much about society and her self while hitchhiking across continents. Of greater significance is the culture clash of Western materialism and Eastern minimalism manifested in the form of a British family traveling abroad that Hanna befriends (the young daughter played by Jessica Barden is a poster child for consumerism) and the contrast between Cate Blanchett’s Marissa Wiegler and Bana’s Erik Heller.
Provoking thought while providing plentiful doses of popcorn entertainment the film works on so many levels and is a unique entry in the collective canon of assassin-on-the-run flicks. Its story is far from groundbreaking but Wright’s surreal visuals and anti-establishment attitude make Hanna a radically original action experience.

Hoo boy, did By Virtue Fall score big in the casting lottery. (I’m assuming that’s how these things work. There’s some giant bingo machine with actor’s faces on it? No?) The film managed to round up a nice little ensemble to compliment already-signed Eric Bana. We’ve got James Spader, Carla Gugino, Ryan Phillippe, Treat Williams and Kim Coates all joining the film that follows an ATF agent (Bana) who becomes enemies with a fellow agent after one of them frames the other. And it looks like quite an impressive cast.
The film comes from Up in the Air co-writer Sheldon Turner who is making this his directorial debut.
Also, the ATF sounds like the least imposing organization of the government, but I think that’s because they leave off the E at the end of the acronym. It’d be kind of hard to stop the hoards of 12 year old boys from lining up to work in the government program that dealt with explosives. BOOM.
Source: Hollywood Reporter

"It was great actually, because I could just go for it. I reckon I did hurt him once or twice. And now I can say that I kicked the a** out of The Hulk." SAOIRSE RONAN enjoyed her fight scene with HULK star ERIC BANA for new movie HANNA.

Earned plaudits for his dramatice portrayal of real-life murderer and cult figure Mark Read in "Chopper"

Co-starred with Rachel McAdams in the film adaptation of "The Time Traveler's Wife"

Voiced Anchor in the animated hit "Finding Nemo"

Summary

Like his American contemporaries Tom Hanks and Jim Carrey, actor Eric Bana started his career as a comedic performer on television before striking out in films. In his native Australia, Bana starred in several sketch-comedy shows, including "The Eric Bana Show" (1997). But it was his turn in the dark and twisted drama "Chopper" (2000) that launched his standing as a viable actor of considerable worth, while earning him the opportunity to break into Hollywood features. From there, he had a noticeable supporting turn in "Black Hawk Down" (2001) and starred as the titular green superhero in Ang Lee's "Hulk" (2003). Following a respectable performance in the otherwise derided sword-and-sandal epic "Troy" (2004), Bana took a decisive turn to more thought-provoking films like Steven Spielberg's 1970s-style thriller, "Munich" (2005), which earned the actor considerable acclaim and solidified his standing as a gifted actor.

Publicist with the Seven Network; daughter of Australian High Court Chief Justice Murray Gleeson; Married Aug. 2, 1997

Education

Name

Notes

"I feel as though I'm in a really tasteless and very long 'Candid Camera' sketch. What I mean is that someone's gonna come in here and tap me on the shoulder and go, 'Ta-dah! The last 12 months we've been following you around with cameras, and it's all just a big joke.' Which I won't find very funny." - Bana on his newfound celebrity to the Daily News, April 1, 2001

"It's tough enough for a kid having a dad that does what I do. I'm sure he's a bit confused. When Dad goes to work, it means me either being covered in tattoos, dressed as a council worker or carrying a gun." - Bana on how his career effects his son to Marie Claire, March 2002

"For some reason, it still hasn't dawned on me. We were standing at the bar having a drink and I said, 'Do you know something...'You're Wolverine and I'm the Hulk. Do you realize that? It's kind of weird.'" - Bana to CNN.com, June 23, 2003